Short-handed Magic beat Detroit Pistons behind big night from Bass

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Their superstar center sat out because of a stomach virus. So did their starting point guard. So did their top perimeter defender. So did their backup shooting guard.

Even the third-string power forward hurt his foot in the first half and did not return, leaving the Magic with just eight healthy players to face the Detroit Pistons.

The Magic beat the Pistons 104-91 anyway.

"I said before the game to our guys — and I believed it — I thought this is a game we should win with the guys we had," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I believed it. They believed it."

And they did it.

Plenty of heroes emerged on a night when starters Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson and key backups Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick could not play.

Brandon Bass made his first 11 shots from the field and finished with a career-high 27 points. Vince Carter seemed to make smart decisions all game long. Marcin Gortat stood in for the world's best center and finished with a double-double.

"We were just kind of relaxed," Bass said. "We all knew we had to step up, but we were all making a little joke out of it, like, 'Dang, we're only gonna have seven or eight players,' not really thinking we were without our key guys."

With the victory, the Magic won their sixth consecutive game. They also won for the 10th time in 11 contests.

Just three nights earlier, Orlando had a healthy roster and still struggled at home to beat Detroit.

No wonder so many in the announced crowd of 18,433 couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Gortat supplied the backbreaker with just under four minutes remaining.

Gortat received a pass in the paint and sent a perfect bounce pass to Bass, who made a layup as he was fouled to give Orlando a 95-84 lead.

Van Gundy pumped his left fist on the sideline.

Bass had just made his 11th consecutive basket.

"I always watch [ Michael] Jordan and Kobe [Bryant], and they always talk about being in the zone," Bass said. "I don't know if I was in a zone, but it's definitely a feeling. It's a feeling. That's all I'll say. What kind of feeling it is, it's a feeling that when you let it go, it's going in."

Nearly everything went right for Bass and the Magic on Friday.

Even when maybe it shouldn't have.

Orlando players had joked before tipoff.

And they were laughing after the final buzzer.

Read Josh Robbins' blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.